Years later, Calhoun, Calipari set to meet on big stage

HACKENSACK, N.J. — The stage was set to settle the score, not only between two college basketball programs, but for the two coaches who built their teams into New England powerhouses.

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By Art Stapleton

seacoastonline.com

By Art Stapleton

Posted Mar. 29, 2011 at 2:00 AM

By Art Stapleton
Posted Mar. 29, 2011 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

HACKENSACK, N.J. — The stage was set to settle the score, not only between two college basketball programs, but for the two coaches who built their teams into New England powerhouses.

There were four chairs on the dais inside the Basketball Hall of Fame for those who brokered the deal and found a way to make such a momentous occasion possible.

Two were reserved for Bob Marcum and Lew Perkins, then the athletic directors at Massachusetts and Connecticut, respectively.

Two were reserved for John Calipari and Jim Calhoun.

When that highly anticipated news conference began in Springfield, Mass., only three of those chairs were occupied.

The fourth — the one in which Calipari was supposed to sit — remained empty.

Marcum remembers the scene as if it played out yesterday and not 15 years ago.

"It was just a huge thing for Calhoun and Calipari, for UConn and UMass, finally agreeing to get on the court to decide some things," Marcum said. "At that particular time, a lot of us felt like those two and their programs were even ... but there was a huge figure missing from the news conference that day.

"Coach Calhoun was there and Coach Calipari was not."

That's because Calipari had decided just hours earlier he was leaving to coach the Nets.

After spending his entire tenure at UMass riding Calhoun for refusing to allow the schools to play, Calipari hit the road for the next level just as UConn finally had agreed.

"Even when we thought we had pulled it off, we couldn't put that Calhoun and Calipari deal together when it was UConn and UMass," Marcum said with a laugh. "The NCAA went and finally put it back together for us."

And back together on a bigger stage, too.

Calipari and Kentucky will face off against Calhoun and UConn in Saturday's Final Four, the court inside Houston's Reliant Stadium serving as the perfect platform to bring one of the sport's most heated coaching rivalries onto center stage.

"My two sons plus my problem child," Calhoun said Monday, referring to the other three coaches who are two victories from a national championship: VCU's Shaka Smart, Butler's Brad Stevens and, presumably, Calipari.

Believe it or not, Calipari and Calhoun are remarkably alike, even if neither would care to admit it. They have taken different paths to get here, of course.

Calhoun, 68, proudly represents everything that is stereotypically New England, complete with his Irish heritage and "Bahston" accent. He coached high school ball in Boston, then parlayed his gig at Northeastern into a chance to build Connecticut into the kingdom over which he now has reigned for 25 seasons and counting.

Calipari, 52, comes from the outskirts of Pittsburgh, the product of a hard-nosed, blue-collar Italian family. His ability to outwork people to reach the pinnacle of the sport at Kentucky after stops at UMass, Memphis and the NBA often is covered up by his slick image.

Yet neither is a coaching saint, considering their reputations have been tarnished by multiple transgressions in the eyes of the NCAA.

In many ways, Calhoun and Calipari are the same gift, just with different wrapping.

"(Our relationship) is fine," Calipari said Sunday after Kentucky upended North Carolina to capture the East regional title at The Rock in Newark. "Look, I respect him and what he does. We don't send cards to each other."

The fact Calipari did so much within striking distance of Storrs, Conn., it was only natural Calhoun took notice and umbrage. Then Calipari went into Calhoun's back yard to sign a blue-chipper named Marcus Camby, and the rivalry was turned upside down.

Calhoun never threatened to choke Calipari, as Temple's John Chaney infamously once did.

The animosity clearly was there, however, and it remains reciprocal, regardless of what they say otherwise.

Calhoun and Calipari have played three times with the latter winning the first two games before the former led the Huskies to an 84-67 victory over Kentucky in the Maui Classic in December.

"(Calipari) always has been an aggressive and incredible personality (who) has developed into a terrific basketball coach," Calhoun said, yet that aggression is what rubbed Calhoun the wrong way from the start.

Calipari wanted Calhoun's attention back then, so he went to the media and drummed up support for the resumption of the rivalry, which bothered Calhoun to no end.

All Calhoun has done since Calipari left that empty chair in Springfield behind is earn permanent residence there by winning two national titles as part of a Hall of Fame legacy at UConn.

"I'd like to think there's a mutual respect," Marcum said as he watched Calipari and the Wildcats cut down the Prudential Center nets in celebration Sunday. "Boy, I would have loved to see what would've happened if we got that UMass and UConn thing going with both of them there."

Two coaches with an antagonistic history, and this time there won't be an empty seat in the house Saturday, compensation perhaps for that lost opportunity 15 years ago.

The chance to play for the national championship goes to the winner.

If history is any indication, Calhoun-Calipari is going to be quite a fight.